Page 19 of A Lady’s Guide to Murder
CHAPTER 18
A Secondary Partnership
The storm rattled the tavern, but Henrietta sat cosy and warm before a crackling fire, brushing Theo’s comb through her hair. Behind the wooden screen that portioned off a third of their bedchamber, clothes rustled. The thud of boots, the drop of a heavy coat, accompanied by Theo’s whistling. Then splashes as he washed himself.
Under her rather soiled chemise, Henrietta’s skin tingled, clean and refreshed, for Theo had ordered a tub of hot water and soap, and she’d borrowed his tooth powder. Her calves were medicated and bandaged in clean cotton. As she tugged his comb through a particularly difficult tangle, her gaze drifted to the bed nestled under the sloping ceiling. It was narrow, with a sagging mattress and thin quilt, but it would suffice.
She steadied her nerves. Bedding a man was a daily occurrence for many women. She, too, could manage it. Moreover, she wanted this. She longed to renew the sensations Theo’s kiss had evoked and she was far more certain than she had been at the pond. There, her request had been one of impulse, driven by desire and duty. Now, she knew her mind.
The truth was, her desire for Theo had never stemmed from Edmund’s will. She desired him because she was a passionate woman with long-repressed urges, and Theo frankly set her aflame. Furthermore, she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life untouched, and, since Theo now knew her secret, he was the perfect man to rid her of her virginity.
Because one day she might wish to remarry. Or enjoy a discreet liaison with a bachelor of the ton , a privilege sometimes afforded to widows. And that gentleman, whoever he might be, would expect her to have been bedded by Edmund. He’d expect her to be knowledgeable. If she weren’t, if she acted frightened and unsure as she had with Theo, it would betray her inexperience.
And she couldn’t have that. Whispers must never arise about the Duchess of Severn’s unconsummated marriage. Not only would it tarnish Edmund’s reputation, but it might raise uncomfortable questions, like whether she was the Duchess of Severn at all. Whether she had dower rights. Whether Edmund’s will was valid.
Her confusion over the matter of the heir and the will had not abated. At the pond, she’d used it to justify her impulsivity, but now that her mind was calmer, it turned her stomach to contemplate using Theo. If she chose that path – and that was a very big if, because it went against her nature to deceive anyone – she’d ask Theo first. And if a child happened to come from what they did tonight … well, that was a bridge to cross at a later time. Still, she wouldn’t lie to Theo about it.
But her virginity was a problem she must solve. The sooner, the better.
She just needed to convince Theo.
With that in mind, she loosened her chemise’s laces, allowing the neckline to fall open just as he emerged shirtless from behind the screen, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. His breeches hung low on his slim hips, his braces hanging at his side. His face was freshly shaven and he smelled of soap.
‘Tired?’ he asked, stretching the towel over the back of a chair so it could dry.
She should be tired, but anticipation had overridden her exhaustion.
‘Relaxed is a better word.’ She laid aside the comb. Her chemise slipped off one shoulder as she stood, allowing a generous view of the tops of her unbound breasts.
As she’d hoped, his gaze fell to her bosom, but his reaction left something to be desired. His jaw tightened, and, after a short, smouldering stare, he tore his eyes away and turned his back.
Henrietta drew upon her courage. There would never be a more perfect time to lose her virginity to a man she trusted – strange as it was that she did trust Theo Hawke after years of animosity. She couldn’t let this opportunity pass. As he riffled through his satchel, she edged closer, her feet whispering on the floorboards, and placed her palm on the taut muscles of his bare back.
He froze.
She lay her cheek against his shoulder blade, relishing the warmth of his skin. ‘Are you tired, Theodore?’
‘Not very, when you press next to me, clad in that scrap of fabric.’ His voice was strained. ‘My thoughts aren’t on sleep much.’
Her confidence swelled. Ah, so he did want her. She need only reassure away his reservations and he’d take her to bed. ‘I’ve given some thought to what you said earlier,’ she said, rubbing her cheek against him. ‘That we should refrain from bedding together because we will later regret it.’
His gaze cut over his shoulder. ‘Yes?’
She pressed her lips to his skin. ‘It won’t be the obstacle you imagine.’
‘Ah, indeed?’
She slid a hand over his biceps, allowing her fingers to trace the hard curves. ‘Our time together is limited to the duration of our investigative partnership. This is going to end one of two ways – with me hanging on the gallows or with my vindication. If the former, well, I don’t particularly wish to die a virgin.’ She paused, letting her words sink in, but he remained motionless, his face a mask. ‘If the latter, you will write your article and we shall both continue with our separate lives, after wishing each other well. The only difference from before is that our animosity will be gone.’
‘The only difference, eh?’
She trailed her fingers down the groove along the centre of his back, stopping at his waistband although she longed to stroke his bottom, so tight under his leather breeches. ‘I need your assistance, Theo, so I’d like to propose a secondary partnership while we are fulfilling our primary partnership.’
And she explained to him why she couldn’t remain a virgin.
‘You want me to bed you so no one will realise your husband didn’t?’ he asked when she’d finished.
‘Precisely.’
‘And there is no other reason you wish me to bed you?’ His gaze was piercing. ‘No additional motive?’
Her breath caught, wondering if she should tell him about Edmund’s will – but she didn’t yet know how she felt about that, so she didn’t want to think or talk on the subject now.
She tried fluttering her lashes. ‘Only that I want you, Theo.’
‘That’s it ? You want me?’ When she tentatively answered in the affirmative, his gaze hardened. ‘Dammit, woman.’ He caught her in his arms, his rough grip unbearably exciting. She didn’t understand why he was angry, but his fierceness titillated her. ‘Tell me, what’s in it for me with this secondary partnership?’
Her heart pounded, but only with excitement, for she wasn’t scared, though his breathing was quick and ragged, and his grip crushingly tight. Was this play? A way to revive the tension of their years-long animosity, which, she now realised, had been fraught with sexual attraction? If so, she could play in return.
‘You get me,’ she said boldly. ‘After years of obsession.’
He grabbed a fistful of her hair at the base of her neck. ‘Witch,’ he said. ‘It’s to my detriment that I want you like I do, but I cannot conquer it. As for your claims that I obsess over you, you’re one to talk. Our attraction is mutual. It burns in you as it burns in me. That’s why your eyes fell on me every time we met in public.’
He was correct, but she didn’t have to admit that.
‘How could I not look at you when I felt your hot stare boring into me?’ she retorted.
‘Bah! Deny all you want, but we both know I speak the truth. In my line of work, I must closely observe many ladies of the ton . You’re not special in that way – other than that of those ladies, only you never failed to stare back.’
She was equally incensed and aroused by his aggression. ‘I only stared because I hated you, Theodore.’
‘Hated me?’ He tightened his grip on her hair, pulling her head backwards so her neck arched towards him. Then he growled, devouring her with his eyes before kissing her taut skin. The searing heat of his lips jolted throughout her body, over her breasts, down to her throbbing sex. ‘For a woman who hates me, you certainly throw yourself at me a great deal.’ He trailed hot kisses over her neck and shoulders. ‘Both literally and figuratively. Well, this time you are going to get some of what you want and don’t blame me if you find you keep desiring it, long after our partnership has ended.’
He scooped her up and tossed her on the bed. She fell onto the creaking mattress, her limbs like jelly, her body aflame with yearning for the world of sensation he was about to introduce her to, at long last.